Garment protector



1961 E. MARKS 2,994,088

GARMENT PROTECTOR Filed May 16, 1958 INVENTOR.

United States Patent 2,994,088 GARMENT PROTECTOR Edna L. Marks, 601 E. Valencia Ave., Burbank, Calif. Filed May 16, 1958, Ser. No. 735,896 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-47) This invention relates to a protective garment, and more particularly to an impervious garment that can be donned about a worn feminine skirt as a protective device against soiling or other incidents resulting in undesirable appearances, as well as serving as a garment bag for preventing clothing -from getting soiled when hanging on a hanger.

Many incidents or situations can befall a woman wearing a floor-length formal-type gown or dress between the time the garment is put on and when she arrives at the party or affair that is the purpose of such formal-type dressing; such incidents or situations being exasperating to the woman and possibly causing detraction from the chicness of her appearance. The most common situations encountered, whether the gown or dress skirt is of the straight or boulfant type, are: the bottom of the skirt becoming soiled by dragging on the surface over which the wearer walks; the side of the skirt becoming snagged if the wearer must walk close to bushes, through narrow doorways, getting into and out of automobiles, etc.; during inclement weather the bottom of the skirt dragging through pools or puddles on sidewalks or ground over which the wearer must walk, causing the bottom of the skirt to become wet or damp and generally stained by the water or mud; the soiling of the bottom portion of the skirt by rubbing or sliding on the stairs as the wearer goes up or down a stairway, this of course being worse if the skirt has been wetted or dampened due to inclement weather; and, not the last nor least, the soiling and snagging Possibilities in automobiles, whether the wearer is driving or only riding.

Since dry cleaning expenses for the types of gowns or dresses subject to the above situations are usually from two to fifteen times as much as the dry cleaning cost of an everyday dress, any device or means available to reduce or eliminate the soiling or damaging possibilities will represent a considerable savings to the wearer, plus allowing her to arrive at her destination with a neat and chic appearance regardless of many of the soiling or damaging incidents or situations encountred from the time of dressing until arrival.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a protective type garment that can be donned over a worn gown or dress skirt to protect the skirt from contacting soiling or damaging means.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a protective type garment that can be put on and taken off with ease by the wearer.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a protective type garment that can double as a protective garment bag for clothes on a hanger when clothes are stored or not in use.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a garment protector of this type having advantageous utility for the user and yet is easily and cheaply manufactured.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a garment protector of one embodiment of this invention being worn over a formal type gown, a portion of the garment protector being broken away in front for clarity reasons;

FIGURE 2 shows the garment protector of FIGURE 1 in an isometric view as it is being readied to serve as a garment bag around clothes on a hanger;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 of FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken along line 4--4 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a view taken along line 5-5 of FIG- URE 2.

Generally stated, the invention comprises a rectangular sheet of transparent impervious material, preferably polyethylene or vinyl plastic, having the two long sides gathered and hemmed over, the top side thus providing a passage for a drawstring type of device for securing around a users waist. The bottom side has an elastic band in the hem extending from one end of the hem to the other. The two short sides are also hemmed over and contain metaltype snap fasteners for securing one of the short sides to the other when the protective garment is donned for wearing. When donned, the protective garment is secured around the wearers waist by the tied drawstring over, or outside the dress, while the side having the elastic band therein is fastened around the wearers thighs, the material covering the dress skirt from the waist down on the outside of the skirt and from the skirt bottom upward to the wearers thighs on the inside of the skirt and undergarment slips or etticoats to the point the elastic'band end is located on the wearers thighs, the protective garment enclosure being complete with the short sides secured by the metal-snap fasteners.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a protective garment 10 donned on a wearer by a drawstring 11 through a hem 10a on the top thereof and tied at the waist around the outside of a worn gown or dress skirt 12. The garment 10 is looped or folded up under skirt 12, as indicated at 13, with the bottom end hem 10b, containing an elastic band therein, bearing.

around the wearers thighs due to the contraction bias of the elastic band. The skirt 12 is enclosed by garment 10 by a plurality of two-piece metal-type snap fasteners 14, details of which are well known in the prior art and are merely indicative of the type of fastener preferred, it being understood that any other appropriate type of fastener may be employed.

The material of the garment 10 may be either polyethylene or vinyl plastic (the vinyl plastic being preferred because of the superior strength) or approximately .002 inch thick, although any of the imperforate opaque or transparent plastic fabric will suffice.

FIGURE 2 shows how the long sides of the garment 10 is gathered as the ends are turned over to form hems 10a and 10b for passages for drawstring 11 and elastic band 15 respectively. Because of such gathering, the garment is bulbous shaped when extending straight, as shown in FIGURE 2.

Metal snap fasteners 14 comprise a male member 14a secured to a strip 16 enclosed in a hem along the short side of garment 10, as can best be seen in FIGURE 3, and a female member 14b secured to a hem enclosed strip in a hem on the other short side of garment 10 similar to male members 14a. In order to allow the garment 10 to fit various sized wearers, the circumference of hem 10b is adjustable by having a plurality of male snap members 1412 along hem 10b, while circumference of hem 10a is variable by the drawing-up or loosening of drawstring 11.

As can be seen in FIGURES 3 and 4', the hems are made by folding the edges of the material of garment 10 over and securing the folded over edge to the main body of the material by heat sealing, as indicated by 17. It is to be understood that if polyethylene or other material incapable of being sealed by heat is used, then the hems may be formed by sewing. Sewing can also be used to form the hems on heat-sealable materials as well, if desired.

In order to allow the elastic band 15 in hem 10b to stretch or expand, it is necessary to secure the ends of band 15 to the material of garment 10 with the fastener members 14a and 14b located at the opposite ends of hem 10b, and since the material of garment 10 is of low elasticity, to allow for expansion of the elastic band 15 by an additional gathering of material of garment 10 longitudinally therealong as indicated by 18 in FIG- URE 5.

Referring back to FIGURE 2, there is shown a clothes hanger 19 in phantom to illustrate how the garment 10 can serve as a protective bag for clothes when traveling. The garment 10 can be tied by drawstring 11 over clothes on hanger 19 and after which can be either hung-up or laid out, the clothes being protected from becoming soiled by the protection afforded by garment 10.

As can be seen by the above, I provide a garment for protecting the skirt of a worn dress or gown that is easy to put on and take off. Also, since it is transparent, there is little detraction from the wearers appearance on the way to or from the afiair that is the purpose of such formal-type dressing, while at the same time, protection of the dress from soiling or damaging incidents is maintained.

While only one particular embodiment has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the invention, and it is intended to cover in the appended claim all such changes and modifications that come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A garment protector for wearing over the skirt of a donned dress comprising: a generally rectangular sheet of imperforate transparent material of a width to extend from the waist downwardly to substantially the ankles and upwardly to the thighs just above the knees, two of the opposite edges of said sheet gathered and turned over and secured to form first hems therealong, means for adjustably engaging one of said first hems around the waist of the wearer over the donned dress when the protector is worn, resiliently stretchable elastomer means in the other of said first hems for restraining the other first hem by engagement around the thighs of the wearer under the donned skirt when the protector is worn, the other two opposing edges of said sheet turned over and secured to form second hems therealong, and fastening means in said second hems for securing said other opposing edges in overlapping engagement when the protector is worn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 275,014 Blanchard Apr. 3, 1883 820,893 Slater May 15, 1906 2,442,749 Callahan June 8, 1948 2,752,603 Greene July 3, 1956 2,798,224 Jennings July 9, 1957 

